Coffee At The End Of The Day
by Cerberusia
Summary: Katsuyacentric 'At the end of the day, Katsuya has a secret.' 'Katsuya is a boy who does what he wants, and one day he decides that he'd like to kiss Seto Kaiba.' Input on the KaibaJounouchi relationship, as enemies, friends and maybe lovers.


**Coffee At The End Of The Day**

At the end of the day, Katsuya has a secret that nobody knows. Because at the end of the day, Katsuya does not go straight home from school, to the shouts and curses and alcohol of his father. Instead, he goes to a largish house in a pleasant, slightly out-of-the-way part of Domino, to meet his most prominent rival for coffee (or tea, in his rival's case) and discussion of whatever comes to mind. It still surprises him that Kaiba doesn't live in a mansion, considering his fondness for ostentatious displays, but the only answer he is given is that it is 'tacky'. He's still not quite sure what Kaiba means by that.

There are no servants to do anything for them: Kaiba comes to the door himself, clad in a polo-necked jumper and jeans, minus trench coat for once. He puts the kettle on, and pours the appropriate drink into each unobtrusively-patterned mug (except for one which bears the slogan 'Best Big Brother Ever'. He presumes it's a present from Mokuba- Kaiba doesn't tell him, because he's never been one for stating the obvious when in private) himself, remembering, to Katsuya's amusement, that the blond boy prefers his coffee black with one sugar.

Kaiba himself drinks tea, claiming that coffee is a revolting drink which should only be drunk in the morning for its invigorating properties. (Katsuya once snarks that if Kaiba bought a slightly weaker brand of coffee he might find the taste slightly more appealing. His companion –_and when did he start thinking of him as such?-_ raises an elegant eyebrow and replies that were he to buy coffee any weaker than his current brand, he would have to arrive at school around half and hour late. This is when he mentions his low blood pressure: if it weren't for the caffeine boost, he'd have to sit dazed for a long while before being able to properly form a coherent thought).

(Upon hearing this, Katusya feels warm inside for some reason _–a breakthrough-_ but rationalises that it is just glee at the knowledge that he has just learned: to put Kaiba out of commission, hide the coffee).

Sometimes Mokuba patters quietly into the kitchen to get a drink, or to get an item of clothing from the laundry. (Katsuya is rather amused to find that the great Seto Kaiba does his own _ironing_ of all things. He comments once on this, something to the effect of Kaiba becoming a good little housewife, and is put in his place by a calm remark that KaibaCorp.'s stocks have risen again). Once, Mokuba pauses to hug Seto –_Seto? Since when?-_ and Katsuya is struck by the bond between the brothers: Seto's hand is placed gently atop Mokuba's head, whose arms are wrapped around his older brother's waist. He's never seen that expression on Seto's face before, so he watches intently and tries to embed it in his memory. (He'd like to learn more about this person, he decides, not bothering to question why).

Katsuya is a boy who does what he wants, and one day, one moment, he decides that he'd like to kiss Seto Kaiba. So he waits until the brunet opposite has finished his drink and pushed his cup out of the way and is opening his mouth slightly to say something, then leans across the table to grab him by the shirt collar (Kaiba does have a peculiar fondness for button-shirts and jumpers- Katusya doesn't remember ever seeing him in a t-shirt) and kisses him firmly yet chastely. The kiss is neither returned nor rejected, and Katsuya pulls back feeling both satisfied and not, watching the (very slight) flush recede from Seto's high, finely-sculpted cheekbones. There is a slight pause, then Kaiba clears his throat and resumes the conversation.

Later, there will be many more kisses, and their neutral-bordering-on-hostile relationship will ease into a tentative friendship, and then bloom and blossom into- what?

Katusya doesn't know, but he's willing to find out.

_FINIS_


End file.
